This invention relates to seal assemblies, particularly such assemblies which are used to seal the space between relatively fixed and relatively rotated members, one of which extends into the other. Usually, such members are a rotary shaft and a wall of a fixed housing, such as a pump casing, through which the shaft extends. The seals utilized are of the ring type, one rotated relative to the other in opposed seal face engagement, by the rotated one of the members.
With prior art seals of this type, when the seal fails, it has been necessary either to replace the seal assembly in entirety or to take the assembly apart so that the failed parts can be replaced. Either operation is a laborious one, involving long, expensive idle down time of the machinery of which the sealed members are a part. Having the seal replacement parts in a package attached to the assembly, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,933, is a convenience but does not really solve the problem.